Man seriously injured outside of Shawano Co. bar

CECIL – A Gillett man is in serious, but stable condition after his family says he was attacked outside a bar in Shawano County.

"He's a very small guy," said Robin Reed, the uncle of 27-year-old Kyle Patzer. "I think he's about 5’6” and only weighs, maybe, 125, 130."

It's Patzer's small stature that has Reed and the rest of Patzer's family scratching their heads. How could Patzer have provoked a situation that would land him in the hospital?

“Two skull fractures, which caused some bleeding through his ear, excessive bleeding in the brain and there is a blood clot,” said Reed, who flew in from Washington state to support the Patzer family, who hails from Gillett.

Reed says Patzer was out with some friends at a bar in the Village of Cecil early Saturday morning when he went outside to have a cigarette.

"And then a guy came up from behind him, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and his belt loops, picked him upside down and just slammed his head down into the ground."

The Shawano County Sheriff's Department says deputies were called shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday for an assault on Warrington Ave. in the Village of Cecil.

Capt. Tom Tuma says the department is asking for people to come forward with information about the assault, as investigators are having a difficult time getting information about what led up to the incident.

"Everything seems very ambiguous," said Tuma to FOX 11. So far, there have been no arrests.

One of the bar's owners didn't want to go on camera, but did say he hasn't heard any explanation as to what lead up to the incident outside his bar.

While Patzer lies in a bed at St. Vincent hospital, fighting to recover, the person behind the attack is still free.

"It'd really be nice if he just called up and said it was me,” said Reed. “I was too drunk – let's deal with this and man up."

But Reed says he's not holding his breath.

Patzer is in intensive care, as of Sunday evening. Reed says doctors are optimistic Patzer will make a full recovery.